CHDK & RAW - a never ending story (Beginners read here please)

NEWS: : Please note that for quite some time now, it is possible generating DNG (Digital negative) in camera by the use of chdk. DNGs can be read by ALOT of GFX editing programs - so use dng instead of the "raw" files.

Fact 1 - with CHDK Canon's cheap P&S cameras can shoot raw now (well, they always could, but now you can also access these raws).

Fact 2 - these RAW files unfortunately only have a 10 bit depth (less than the average bit depth of DSLR RAW files (12 bit, sometimes 14) but they are still better than the compressed jpgs (bit-depth wise).

Fact 3 - It is depending on YOU and YOUR skills how the resulting JPG after RAW developing will look like. Please read tutorials on RAW conversion & editing. If you have no experience whatsoever regarding RAW files and developing, it is likely that you are better off with the JPGs produced by the camera.

Fact 4 - if you want to use the CHDK RAW files in your standard RAW workflow tool it is likely that they cannot be opened (as a lot of commercial raw converters/editors do not support CHDK RAWs yet).

Fact 5 - CHDK raw files do not contain any exif data. you are bound to either store them together with the corresponding jpg, or convert them to dng using dng4ps (which uses the exif data from the jpgs to merge them into the dng).

Fact 6 - the canon cameras are known for very good jpg output quality. experienced users might squeeze more quality out of the RAWs though, especially if a shot was made in either low-light conditions or with blown-out highlights. In general it is best to NOT rely on the RAWs, instead just shoot right in the first place, know what i mean? The RAW files can be used as some kind of "backup". Here is a list of programs that work with CHDK raws out of the box (to be completed - need input):

- dng4ps - THE standard tools to convert chdk raws into DNG files. there also is a Mac build in the making here. DNGs can be opened by almost all applications. If you are unhappy with the result of the conversion or your camera isnt supported yet, here is a thread you can participate in: New project: camera color profile calculation- dcraw - commandline utility that will convert every raw file on earth. there are some nice guis for it, like UFraw or rawtherapee (please google).- google's picasa - reports tell that picasa supports CHDK raw files (confirmed with beta3 and canon s5is)- raw therapee- ufraw (based on dcraw)

If you know more tools, please say so in this thread, will add them to the list.

I couldnt find the page describing CHDK & RAW in the wikia. maybe someone can provide me the link, or even create such a page (one cannot search for RAW in the wikia as it only has 3 letters... and also it wasnt linked in the A-Z summary).

P.S: Please dont use this forum to ask about what a RAW file is (wikipedia is your friend). Also, we dont know the best raw workflow, it really depends on your own experience. there are threads regarding this topic though, please make a search for these.

P.P.S: Please dont start a discussion about the benefit of RAW. Love it or leave it

I use Raw Therapee v.2.4 Beta 1 and UFRaw .. both work well. Just found that FastStone Image Viewer v.3.6 handles CHDK raw files without any complaint, while ACDSee doesn't. FastStone does even convert them to other formats. Better yet, FastStone can batch convert files, but well I didn't see a Mac or Linux version. Only works with Windows

ok I just installed the CHDK on my SD750, have taken some pics using RAW, edited them in Lightroom, now... I know it still depends on the settings I choose on my camera the resulting format but what I need is the optimal settings I need to choose in order I can get the most unedited pic from my camera so I can do it manually on Lightroom, I'm still a noob on this so please can someone give me some advice?